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stable

sta·ble/ˈsteɪ.bəl/noun, verb, adjective

stable is spelled S-T-A-B-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables (sta·ble). It appears 30 times per million words in written English, the 3,114th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, stable means “A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of stable is stables.

How many letters and syllables are in stable?

Letters6: S-T-A-B-L-E
Syllables2: sta·ble
In writing30 times per million words; the 3,114th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is stable?

Stable appears 30 times per million words in written English, the 3,114th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce stable?

  • US /ˈsteɪ.bəl/
  • US [ˈsteɪ.bɫ̩]
  • Australia /ˈstæɪ.bəl/

Stable has 2 syllables, split sta·ble in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-stable.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with stable

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

Also written: stables.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with stable?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as stable from its last stressed vowel (/eɪbəl/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: tables.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of stable

  • stables plural, UK, present, singular, he/she/it
  • stabling participle, present
  • stabled participle, past
  • stabler comparative
  • more stable comparative
  • stablest superlative
  • most stable superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does stable mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses.

    There were stalls for fourteen horses in the squire's stables.

  2. 2

    All the racehorses of a particular stable, i.e. belonging to a given owner.

  3. 3

    ScotlandA set of advocates; a barristers' chambers.

  4. 4

    An organization of sumo wrestlers who live and train together.

  5. 5

    A group of wrestlers who support each other within a wrestling storyline.

  6. 6

    slangA group of prostitutes managed by one pimp.

  7. 7

    A group of people who are looked after, mentored, considered or trained in one place or for a particular purpose or profession.

  8. 8

    A coherent or consistent set of things (typically abstract) available or presented; array.

verb

  1. 1

    To put or keep (an animal) in a stable.

  2. 2

    To dwell in a stable.

  3. 3

    To park (a rail vehicle).

adjective

  1. 1

    Relatively unchanging, steady, permanent; firmly fixed or established; consistent; not easily moved, altered, or destroyed.

    He was in a stable relationship.

  2. 2

    Of software: established to be relatively free of bugs, as opposed to a beta version.

    You should download the 1.9 version of that video editing software: it is the latest stable version. The newer beta version has some bugs.

  3. 3

    That maintains the relative order of items that compare as equal.

  4. 4

    Eventually satisfying the identity IM_n=M_n+1.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Stable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchétable, écurie (building for managing ungulates, normally horses), établer (put or keep in a stable), stable (relatively unchanging)
GermanStall, Pferdestall (building for managing ungulates, normally horses), stallen (put or keep in a stable), Rennstall (building for horses), Ochsenstall (stable for oxen, cows, cattle), ausrangieren (rail transport: park)
Portugueseestábulo (building for managing ungulates, normally horses), estável (relatively unchanging), cavalariça, cocheira, estrebaria (building for horses)
Spanishestablo, cuadra, caballeriza, establía, caballericero (building for managing ungulates, normally horses), estable (relatively unchanging)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does stable come from?

Inherited from Middle English stable, borrowed from Anglo-Norman stable, from Latin stab(u)lum. From Middle English stable, borrowed from Anglo-Norman stable, from Latin stab(u)lum.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after stable